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A Classic Tale of Good vs Evil: Six Devils in the San Fernando Valley

C.S. Lewis once said “The world does not need more Christian literature. What it needs is more Christians writing good literature.” I don’t know about you, but I feel that way about conservative books, too, on a regular basis. One can tell a compelling story with latent values without ramming those values down the reader’s throat at the expense of the story. That’s why it was so refreshing to read Six Devils in the San Fernando Valley, by Ernie Mannix.

Mannix’s book tells the tale of Truman Morrow who, after years in Hollywood, has had it with the movie business. It has left him bitter and shallow, and he has precious little to show for it. After a near-death experience, he finds out that he has been chosen for something larger than the movie business and is swept up in a classic tale of good versus evil, of darkness versus light.

Reading the book is something like watching a film noir, seeing the darkness behind the blinding glitz of hollywood. It pulls back the curtain to show what people will sacrifice for fame and fortune on the silver screen, beyond the tabled tales of broken dreams. As with any good noir, there’s also a dame in Morrow’s life, who is a mystery in herself. While the book feels noir, it contains both a love story and mystery with a dash of spirituality, making it refreshingly original. I can’t compare this book to others, because I have simply never read anything like it. What I can tell you is that I liked it, and I think most readers will.

I took this book on vacation with me, and found that I didn’t get any sleep on the plane. I couldn’t put the book down, and told myself “just one more page,” until the flight was over. Now I’m just left to wait for Mannix’s next book: Six Devils on the Ellipse.